Legendary Gary is an RPG about an RPG
In his own lifetime
You know how Gatsby was, in many ways, not all that great? Well, Gary is not legendary. He might be a heroic character in the games that he plays, and he might well discover that he is more important than he knows in his dealings with family and friends, but he is not the stuff of legend.
He is, in fact, a man with a fairly ordinary life who spends his evenings playing a game called Legend of the Spear. It looks a bit like The Banner Saga, with tactical grids and gorgeous graphics. I'd definitely rather spend my days living an ordinary life and my evenings playing Legend of the Spear than spend my days living an ordinary life and my evenings playing Skyrim, so Gary is probably having a better time than 90% of RPG fans I know.
Conceptually, it's kind of similar to smartphone smash Dandy Dungeon.
Evan Rogers, the creator of the game (graphics and all), was the Gameplay Programmer on What Remains of Edith Finch and it was that connection that first caught my eye. Then my eye decided it was having a pretty good time watching the trailer and invited my ear to the party to listen to the xXsickXx track that was playing in the background. They both had a good time, even though my eye may or may not have had too much to drink and got into a fight with a dinosaur.
Rogers says the game is coming early 2018 and it has a Steam page right now. There, you can learn all about the tactical combat, which sounds very neat:
"These battles take place on a hexagonal grid. On each turn, all fighters act simultaneously. You must decide what action each member of your party will perform. There are no dice rolls, no time pressure, and with each choice you can watch how the turn will resolve before you commit. But with each encounter the enemies will bring new tactics of their own, and defeating them will become increasingly tricky. You will expand your repertoire of moves as you venture on, opening up a variety of different solutions to each problem. The battles in Legendary Gary are designed to be a stress-free exercise in problem solving."
When you're not fighting and adventuring in fantasy land, you'll be making decisions in the real world (Gary's real world) that will have an impact on his friends and family. I hope Gary doesn't lose the family home by spending the rent on Legend Coins to help him defeat a really tough boss in Legend of the Spear.